Fulham boss Kit Symons cursed a touch of misfortune as his side fell to a 1-0 defeat against Stoke in the Capital One Cup Third Round.
Peter Crouch struck the only goal of the game on the half hour mark to knock the Cottagers out of the competition, but Symons believes his side was unlucky after a spirited second half display.
“I thought their goal was fortuitous”, Symons bemoaned.
“Ben Pringle worked his socks off to get back into play, but it was him who actually played the pass right into Peter Crouch’s path to score. It was unlucky for us because we worked so hard.”
Fulham were slow in the first half, but they came out a rejuvenated side after the break and created a number of chances to equalise through Ross McCormack and most notably Dan Burn, whose effort cannoned off the crossbar in injury time. But in spite of the bad luck, Symons was pleased with his side’s display.
“It was a fantastic night playing against a Premier League team full of internationals. They’re very talented but will let you play. So when we got the ball we did have an opportunity to express ourselves and enjoy it,” Symonds said.
“We were excellent second half. First half we did okay but wasn’t an awful lot in it.
“I didn’t feel we were positive enough and perhaps we showed too much respect at the start. But in the second half we ramped it and had an abundance of chances at the end.
“I hate losing, but if you’re gonna lose then lets lose like that and give it a real go.”
Symons and co are going to have to get over the defeat quickly, because on Friday, they face a huge West-London Derby against local rivals, QPR. And the Fulham managers expects both players and fans alike to be up for it.
“The crowd were excellent tonight, and I know they’ll be in great voice again on Friday.” Symons concluded.
“It’s always a brilliant atmosphere here. We’ll do our best to drive the fans on, and they’ll drive us on, and together we’ll do our very best to beat QPR.”
